Chicago's Museum Campus is home to three of the city's most recognizable attractions: the Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History, and Shedd Aquarium.

Each offers something completely different to explore, which is where this Virtual begins.

HOW TO LOG THIS VIRTUAL

To claim this Virtual Cache, visit ONE of the following three locations:

Adler Planetarium
Field Museum of Natural History
Shedd Aquarium

Take a photo outside or inside your chosen location showing the landmark as well as you or something representing you. Post the image along with your log. 

Your photo doesn't need to include your face but it must contain One or more of the following items:

• You
• Your hand giving a thumbs up
• GPS or a Smartphone with the a geoaching app on screen
• Your geocaching name
• Your caching mascot, or another Geocaching personal item

Logs not meeting the above requirements may be deleted. If you don't feel comfortable attaching a pic you may send me a message and include it there. 

PLEASE NOTE: The posted coordinates are the location of the information boards used when this Virtual was originally published in 2017. You're no longer required to visit them but it is one of the best views of the skyline. Because of this we will also accept this location as your photo op for your find begining 9/10/2026.

WELCOME TO MUSEUM CAMPUS

Today, the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Adler Planetarium feel as though they were always meant to be together.

In a way, they were.

By 1930, all three institutions stood along Chicago's lakefront. That year, Adler's first director described the trio as institutions devoted to the heavens above, the Earth beneath, and the waters of the world.

But the beautiful, walkable Museum Campus you see today?

That came much later.

THE MUSEUMS WERE HERE. THE CAMPUS WASN'T.

For decades, a major roadway ran through what is now the green heart of Museum Campus.

Lake Shore Drive split around the area. Northbound traffic passed east of Soldier Field and the Field Museum, while southbound traffic ran to the west. The museums existed beside one another, but traffic and parking separated them.

That changed dramatically in the 1990s.

Chicago relocated the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive westward to join the southbound lanes. The old roadway disappeared, parking areas were removed, and land once dominated by automobiles became lawns, trees, walkways, sitting areas, and bicycle paths.

The Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, once separated by northbound Lake Shore Drive, were finally connected by parkland.

The unified Museum Campus opened in 1998.

If you're standing on the lawn between the museums today, it's difficult to imagine highway traffic running through this space.

That's the point.

What looks like an established lakefront park is actually the result of one of Chicago's major urban redesigns.

BUT EVEN THE LAND HAS A STORY

Here's another thing that's easy to miss:

Much of Chicago's lakefront landscape isn't entirely natural.

Chicago has spent generations reshaping its shoreline with fill, engineering, parks, harbors, roads, and islands. The Illinois State Geological Survey describes the open parkland that defines this part of the shoreline as the product of urban planning, geological engineering, lake fill, and reconstruction.

That history is especially obvious just beyond Adler at Northerly Island.

Daniel Burnham envisioned a chain of man-made islands along Chicago's lakefront in his famous plans for the city. Northerly Island was the only one of that proposed chain to actually be completed.

Today it's technically a peninsula and has been transformed into an urban nature area.

So as you explore Museum Campus, remember:

The museums aren't the only things here that were built.

Part of the lakefront itself was, too.

LOOK TO THE STARS at the

ADLER PLANETARIUM

The youngest of the three original Museum Campus institutions arrived with a distinction no other American city could claim.

When the Adler Planetarium opened on May 12, 1930, it became the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. Chicago businessman Max Adler helped fund its construction, its astronomical collection, and the Zeiss projector that recreated the night sky beneath the dome.

Adler called his new institution a “classroom under the heavens.”

That original 1930 building is still at the heart of the museum, although Adler has expanded considerably around it.

DID YOU KNOW?

During Chicago's 1933–34 Century of Progress World's Fair, more than 1.2 million people visited Adler in just two years.

And Chicago's connection to astronomy predates the planetarium. The Chicago Astronomical Society was founded in 1862 and is the oldest astronomical society in America.

WHILE YOU'RE HERE

Don't just look at Adler.

Turn around.

The end of Solidarity Drive gives you one of the signature views back toward Chicago's skyline.

And while you're walking out toward Adler, watch the median.

You'll encounter monuments to Nicolaus Copernicus, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Karel Havlíček Borovský along the way. The statues were relocated here from elsewhere in Chicago, adding another layer of history to a road most visitors simply use to reach the planetarium.

STEP BACK IN TIME at the

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The Field Museum's story doesn't begin here.

It begins with one of the biggest events in Chicago history.

THE WORLD'S FAIR

In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition.

The fair drew millions of visitors and filled its buildings with tens of thousands of exhibits representing natural history, cultures, technology, art, and discoveries from around the world.

When the fair ended, Chicago had a question:

What happens to all of it?

Many objects from the exposition became the foundation of a new museum. Businessman Marshall Field contributed $1 million toward making that museum permanent, and the institution that would eventually bear his name opened in Jackson Park in 1894.

It didn't move to its present lakefront home until 1921.

And moving a natural-history museum in 1920 wasn't exactly a matter of loading a few boxes into a U-Haul.

Specimens and displays were packed into crates and transported from Jackson Park by rail and horse-drawn carriage.

On May 2, 1921, the new Field Museum opened here.

Crowds lined up for miles.

There's plenty of history before you ever enter.

Construction took nearly six years and cost about $7 million. The original building used approximately 350,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, and portions of its foundation extend as much as 95 feet below ground.

And then, of course, there are the residents.

SUE.

Máximo.

Millions of specimens and objects documenting the natural world and human history.

The museum's collection has grown to nearly 40 million artifacts and specimens.

DIVE DEEP at the

SHEDD AQUARIUM

John G. Shedd had risen from stock boy to president of Marshall Field & Company.

He wanted to give something back to Chicago.

His idea was ambitious: if the world's great cities had aquariums, Chicago should build one capable of joining its other great cultural institutions.

Shedd initially donated $2 million, and planning began in 1924. He later contributed another $1 million.

But John Shedd never saw the finished aquarium bearing his name.

He died in 1926.

Construction continued, and the John G. Shedd Aquarium opened on May 30, 1930.

The building itself was designed around aquatic life.

Fish, turtles, shells, and other aquatic forms were incorporated into its marble and decorative details.

So even if you aren't going inside:

Walk around the building and see what you can spot.

Shedd has expanded substantially since 1930. The Abbott Oceanarium opened in 1991, while Wild Reef was built about 25 feet below street level beneath the original south terrace. Together, those additions nearly doubled the aquarium's square footage without overwhelming the historic exterior.

RELAX in

THE GREEN SPACE

The museums get the headlines.

But Museum Campus itself deserves some time.

When Lake Shore Drive was relocated, pavement and parking gave way to lawns, trees, paths, sitting areas, and connections to the lakefront.

You don't need a ticket to enjoy any of that.

Walk toward the water.

Find a bench.

Bring lunch.

Watch the boats.

Follow the paths.

Let the kids run around.

Or just stop trying to get somewhere for a few minutes.

The Museum Campus connects directly into Chicago's lakefront trail system, making this area popular with walkers, runners, and cyclists as well as museum visitors. The trail continues north toward downtown and south through Burnham Park and beyond.

And if you've got more time, continue south beyond Adler toward Northerly Island.

GO A LITTLE FARTHER to

NORTHERLY ISLAND

This is the part of Museum Campus many visitors never see.

Northerly Island is a 119.7-acre lakefront park with prairie and savanna habitat, a five-acre pond, walking paths, and more than 150 varieties of native plants. The Chicago Park District says its developing savanna contains roughly 20,000 trees and shrubs, creating habitat for resident and migratory birds

Its history is just as unusual.

It was created as part of Daniel Burnham's vision for Chicago's lakefront, hosted part of the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair, later became the site of Meigs Field airport, and has since been transformed again as parkland and natural habitat.

Museum Campus can be a busy place.

Northerly Island can feel surprisingly far removed from it.

IF YOU HAVE AN EXTRA 30 MINUTES...

Walk south.

No museum ticket.

No logging requirement.

No puzzle to solve.

Just see where the path takes you.

AND THEN THERE'S THE VIEW

You can spend hours here looking at things millions or even billions of years old.

But one of the best exhibits isn't inside any building.

TURN AROUND.

From the lakefront and especially from the Adler end of the campus, Chicago's skyline stretches across the horizon.

The lake gives the city room to be seen.

On a clear day, glass and steel reflect the sky.

At sunset, everything changes color.

At night, the buildings become the backdrop.

And on certain Chicago days...

You may mostly see clouds.

That's part of the experience.

WHY WE CHOSE THIS PLACE

When our family received the opportunity to place a Virtual Reward in 2017, Museum Campus was an easy choice.

We've come here for the museums. We've rested here following the Chicago Marathon. We've walked the lakefront, grabbed something to eat, spent time together, and returned for reasons that had nothing to do with geocaching.

It was already part of our family's Chicago.

A Virtual gave us an opportunity to make it part of someone else's.

So on September 10, 2017, Museum Campus: Chicago was published.

ONE LAST QUESTION

Your photo is the only thing required to log the cache.

But if you've read this far, I'd love to hear something else.

WHAT DID YOU DISCOVER?

It doesn't have to be related to the museums.

Maybe it was something you learned on this page.

Maybe you found one of the monuments.

Maybe you had no idea a highway once ran through the lawn where you were standing.

Maybe you wandered onto Northerly Island.

Maybe you discovered the perfect skyline viewpoint.

Maybe you found the best hot dog of the trip.

Maybe SUE was the entire reason you came.

Or maybe your favorite part had absolutely nothing to do with anything I've mentioned.

Tell us.

Those are the logs that make a Virtual worth owning.

If you enjoyed the location consider dropping us a favorite point!

Thanks for visiting Museum Campus: Chicago.

Bass Brigade

Virtual Reward - 2017/2018 This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.